Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 5th, 2005
Nothing much changes in the second season of Las Vegas. Of course, Danny comes home from his secret and apparently tragic tour of duty. Mike is a full fledged member of the security team. Otherwise it’s business as usual for the workers at the Montecito. The show works well as an ensemble piece, but the relationship between Danny and Big Ed is more fully developed here and is beginning to dominate the series. James Caan continues to impress with work most of his peers would consider beneath him. The flashy fast paced camera work continues to offer a dizzying ride through the glitz and glamour of Las Vegas.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 4th, 2005
For the first time in Star Trek history it was decided to dedicate an entire season to tell a single story. Following a recent trend started by hits like Alias and 24, Enterprise boldly went where many had gone before. The problem with this grand idea is that character development and Trek lore were all given a back seat. Rick Berman felt the need for Trek to become more epic. Unfortunately what Enterprise really needed to do was return to its character and socially driven roots. The show did finally start in that direction, but not before losing a legion of fans.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 3rd, 2005
Winter Solstice is one of those quiet, somber independent films. While not as flashy as The Upside of Anger (and that’s not a flashy film), Josh Sternfeld’s feature is a meditative look at a broken family trying to rebuild its life. Don’t expect any major plot twists or a flashy directing style. Solstice takes its time and builds towards something called hope.
A family tragedy as taken its toll on a Jersey family. Anthony LaPaglia plays Jim Winters, a landscape gardener. H...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 3rd, 2005
Synopsis
In 1969, a group of jocks drug their dates at the homecoming dance in order to abduct them. One of them, Mary, stays sober, and is accidentally killed by her date. Thirty years later, history repeats itself when three young women are the victims of a similar revenge prank on the part of the jocks. One of the victims (Kate Mara) accidentally summons the vengeful ghost (by reciting “Bloody Mary”) and the culprits all start dying in various gruesome ways. It seems, however, that they all have s...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on October 3rd, 2005
Synopsis
The son of Seth Brundle, the unfortunate man-fly, is born with his mixture of human and fly DNA. He turns out to be uncannily brilliant, but also reaches adulthood (played by Eric Stoltz) in only five years. He grows up in the Bartok Industries facility, and is asked to carry on his father’s work. Inevitably, the fly genes make themselves felt, and he begins to transform, and love interest Daphne Zuniga wants to save him.
The director is Chris Walas, who handled the makeup FX in th...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on September 30th, 2005
Walking in on his wife and another man, J.M. (Barnes Walker III) blows his top and kills her with a baseball bat. He is subsequently horrified by his actions, and is unable to part with the corpse of his wife. He takes off to his sister's farm with the body, thinking he will be alone. But some nosy locals turn up, and more murders follow.The film's tiny budget is certainly apparent, and viewers will also face stiff performances and a slow pace. But there is plenty of atmosphere, a...d writer/director Brian Avenet-Bradley shows some real talent here, as well as in the such wordless sequences as the brutal flashback to the actual murder. The film's original title was Freez'er.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 28th, 2005
Warm Springs is an HBO production based on a lesser known part of the life of Franklin Roosevelt. While most folks know about FDR’s debilitating bout with polio, few are aware of his long-term association with a rural Georgia resort. It seems the water there is high in minerals, which allows those suffering from crippling diseases a chance to stand or even walk in the super buoyant water. HBO films has a nice track record with historical films. Truman is one of the best Presidential bio films I’ve ever seen. This film limits itself perhaps too much and becomes more about polio than it is about FDR.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on September 27th, 2005
Synopsis
Having survived one onslaught by rebel angels, Kari Wuhrer becomes a target yet again. She is the guardian of the Lexicon, and self-writing book of prophecies, and big-shot angel Tony Todd wants that book so he can learn the identity of the Antichrist and kill the child before he can bring about Armageddon. He sends killer Jason Scott Lee after Wuhere, but Lee is stricken with a conscience attack, and helps her instead. When the straits become very dire, however, there is only one person Wuh...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on September 26th, 2005
Synopsis
A pair of human smugglers accidentally take off with the baby of one of the immigrants they dropped off inside the Czech republic. They bring the baby to a pawn shop, where it is subsequently sold to a woman who is so desperate to have a child that she tries to abduct someone else’s. Her husband is soccer hooligan trying to go straight. He might not be the sharpest knife in the drawer, but he recognizes trouble when he sees it. Meanwhile, the mother of the baby has sought help with a refugee...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on September 24th, 2005
Synopsis
Rebel Without a Cause (1955) is the landmark, because of its star, and because of its subject matter. This intense, rich portrayal of juvenile delinquency triggered a flood of largely exploitive imitators, but it remains a powerful film, not least for the sympathy with which it treats its characters, and for its understanding. It shows why the Dean, Natalie Wood and company behave the way they do, and does not demonize. This was Dean’s second film, but the first to be released, and hi...
